Profiles:
Morgan Christen

Morgan Christen

JD 86

Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

School of Law Alumnas Path to the Federal Judiciary

Morgan Christen, born in 1962, always intended to be a lawyer. "I don't know what
might have influenced me, but Ive wanted to go to law school for as long as I can
remember," she says. Although she doesnt recall the incident personally, a five-year-old
Morgan announced to her kindergarten teacher her intention to attend law school. After
graduating with a degree in International Studies from the University of Washington,
Morgan fulfilled her kindergarten prophecy as her law school career at Golden Gate
University began.

Through the law schools clinical program, Christen obtained an internship at the Anchorage
Municipal Prosecutor's Office. "I did not know anyone in Alaska, but I knew I wanted
to litigate, and they promised me a lot of time in the courtroom. I was not disappointed.
I worked in the prosecutors office for six monthsfrom June until early Decemberand
I was in court every day I worked. It was a wonderful experience and a great opportunity,
but I had no intention of staying when I came to Alaska."

But she did stay, and for fifteen years worked at the firm of Preston, Gates & Ellis
LLP, becoming a partner in 1992. In 2001 she was appointed to a position on the Alaska
Superior Court bench in Alaskas Third District. After serving for three years, Morgan
Christen was appointed presiding judge of the third judicial district in 2005. Her
workload included the administrative work that goes along with the states largest
judicial districtpresiding over several hundred cases, daily court appearances, and
trying approximately twenty-five bench and jury trials per year.

Her years on the bench earned Justice Christen many awards and honors, and in March
2009, Christen became the twentieth justice appointed to Alaskas highest court, and
only the second woman in its fifty-year history. In the press release announcing her
decision, the governor stated, "I have every confidence that Judge Christen has the
experience, intellect, wisdom and character to be an outstanding Alaska Supreme Court
justice."

In 2011, Christen was nominated by President Obama and in January 2012, was confirmed
and now serves as a Judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
in San Francisco.